EL CAJON, Calif. (CNS) - Authorities reached out to the public Tuesday for help in finding answers about the mysterious death -- believed to be a murder -- of an unidentified woman whose body turned up in a patch of brush in eastern San Diego County nearly three decades ago.
The woman may have been in her 30s when she was found dead on Aug. 13, 1998, in the 1300 block of Avocado Avenue in El Cajon, according to police. On the body were a silver herringbone bracelet, black shoes and a blue T-shirt bearing the words "Woodruff Warriors 20 Year Reunion 1971-1991."
She was a brunette who had stood about 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighed roughly 110 pounds, the El Cajon Police Department reported. DNA testing has revealed that the woman had ancestral roots in Michoacan, Mexico, and a possible relative in the San Diego area, according to ECPD officials.
Police, who have released a rendering of what the woman is believed to have looked like when she was alive, have not disclosed why investigators think the woman fell victim to homicide.
ECPD needs your help; DNA may hold the key to uncovering the identity of a woman lost to time—and justice. On August 13, 1998, the body of an unidentified woman was found in the brush near the 1300 block of Avocado Ave in El Cajon, CA. The victim, believed to be a white or… pic.twitter.com/xFdwskqmGJ
— El Cajon Police (@elcajonpolice) August 19, 2025
Anyone who might be able to help detectives identify the woman and determine the circumstances of her death is asked to contact the ECPD Cold Case Unit at 619-593-5774 or coldcaseunit@elcajon.gov.
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